Stabbing victim found on Fitchburg doorstep

State and local police converge on the scene of a criminal investigation at 68 Marshall St.

State and local police are investigating the stabbing of an unidentified man Friday afternoon.

A Marshall Street resident said she alerted authorities shortly before 2 p.m. Friday to a blood-soaked, partially clothed man whom she found stabbed and lying, not moving, on her doorstep.

A spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Friday night declined to say if the victim had survived the stabbing and, if he had, what his condition was.

“We are not going to be releasing any information on the stabbing on Marshall Street,” the spokesman, Timothy Connolly, said, adding that to do so could “hinder the fast-moving investigation.” He said details would be provided at a later date but did not specify when.

On Friday afternoon, police said the victim was in serious condition. They said that while there was a stab wound, the investigation to determine the extent of the man's injuries was ongoing.

The woman who says she discovered the body and alerted authorities lives at 68 Marshall St., a three-story apartment building.

The 58-year-old said she had returned home just before 2 p.m. She said that she first noticed a red substance all over her entrance way.

“I thought the kids sprayed my door with ketchup,” she said.

Looking down, she said she saw “this man was laying on the porch, flat on the floor. I saw he was looking up; I screamed.”

The woman said she then called 911 and was instructed to put a compress on the victim, she said.

She said the man was clothed only in a shirt and socks, had a zip cut and was dark-skinned.

“It was the scariest thing I ever saw,” she said, adding that she did not know the victim and had never seen him before.

“I saw blood. His eyes were looking up, he wasn't moving, he had no shirt, no shoes,” she said. “He was on my porch floor. When I noticed the blood, I panicked,” she said, adding: “I though I was moving into a beautiful neighborhood. It's a war zone.”

About 5:30 p.m., a middle-aged man who was seen speaking with investigators was weeping.

The man said the victim is his nephew and is 26 years old. He said police had provided him with few details of what happened. The man, who did not identify himself, left in a vehicle driven by an adult woman with two girls in the back seat.

Two other neighbors said the stabbing is the third time in the past six or seven weeks yellow police tape has gone up on their street.

Diane Smith, 66, of 64 Marshall St. returned home at 1:30 p.m. Friday and saw a man being taken into an ambulance.

She said that she had heard gunshots during the two previous incidents.